…an eclectic mix of travel photos with a birding theme, home and away.

To Hume’s it may concern

Playing catch-up after posting news of my minor triumph of achieving 300 birds in the UK in 2013!

On Tuesday afternoon we took a slight detour on our way back to Peterborough and ended up at Gibraltar Point, where a Hume’s Leaf Warbler had been reported earlier in the week. On the greyest afternoon of the year so far we found ourselves traipsing around the ‘Plantation’ looking for this rare vagrant from Central Asia. To be fair though it was calling pretty frequently but still it did take a while to locate it and even longer to get acceptable views. By the time another contingent arrived from Peterborough the bird had fallen silent – probably gone to roost, and unfortunately they went away empty handed.

Apart from call, this warbler is distinguished from it’s close relative, Yellow-browed Warbler, by duller green upper parts, ‘dirty’ underparts, a less distinct ‘upper’ wing bar and an all dark bill. A ‘tidy’ little bird for my 300th UK ‘tick’ this year.

Amazingly, the last time I was in this plantation was in November 1982 – watching an American Redstart!